Tran Thien Khiem
| Trần Thiện Khiêm | |
|---|---|
| Born |
15 December 1925 Saigon, Cochinchina, French Indochina (present-day Vietnam) |
| Allegiance | Vietnamese National Army, Army of the Republic of Vietnam |
| Years of service | 1947–75 |
| Rank |
 General
|
| Commands held |
21st Division (1960–62) Chief of Staff of the armed forces (1962–63) III Corps (1964) Chairman of the Joint General Staff (1964) |
| Battles/wars | 1960 South Vietnamese coup attempt, 1963 South Vietnamese coup, 1964 South Vietnamese coup, 1965 South Vietnamese coup |
| Other work | National Leadership Committee (1964) Ambassador to the United States (1964–65) Ambassador to South Korea and Taiwan (1965–68) Interior Minister (1968–69) Deputy Prime Minister (1969) Prime Minister (1968–75) Defense Minister (1964–75) |
General Trần Thiện Khiêm (chữ Hán: ; born 15 December 1925) was an officer in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam during the Vietnam War. During the 1960s he was involved in several coups. He helped President Ngô Đình Diệm put down a November 1960 coup attempt and was rewarded with promotion. In 1963 he was involved in the coup that deposed and assassinated Diêm.
He later joined with Nguyễn Khánh to stage a successful January 1964 coup. In the next few months, the Catholic Khiêm fell out with Khánh, whom he accused of being too heavily influenced by Buddhist activists. Khiêm tried to plot against Khánh, but was thwarted. He was implicated in the organization of the September 1964 coup attempt by Generals Lâm Văn Phát and Dương Văn Đức, both also Catholics, and was sent into exile to serve as Ambassador to the United States. In February 1965, Colonel Phạm Ngọc Thảo, who had accompanied him to Washington had returned to Saigon and launched a coup with Phát. This was done with Khiêm's support. The coup failed but other officers took the opportunity to force Khánh into exile. Khiêm would return to Vietnam when the political climate among the generals was more favourable and became Prime Minister under President Nguyễn Văn Thiệu, resigning only in the last month before the fall of Saigon.
Khiêm graduated from the Vietnamese National Military Academy in Đà Lạt on 12 July 1947. He became a 1st Lieutenant in June 1948 and served in the Vietnamese National Army of the French-backed State of Vietnam of Emperor Bảo Đại, which fought the Việt Minh of Hồ Chí Minh. Khiêm was appointed captain in 1951 and major in July 1954. In 1957, as a colonel, he became a Deputy Chief of General Staff/Logistics and served as acting Chief of Joint General Staff in October. From 1957 to 1958 he attended the Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas in the United States, and upon his return, served as 4th Field Division Commander until February 1960. In September, he switched to command the 5th Division, which at the time was based in Mỹ Tho.
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